Email marketing is sending electronic mails or messages to people over the internet. Primarily to deliver advertisements, soliciting donations or sales, or for just about any email communication. Email marketing is one way by which a company can build trust or loyalty among its customers or increase its brand recognition. One of the primary benefits of email marketing is the ability to remain connected with clients and promoting one’s business.
This form of marketing is an uncomplicated way to reach your target audience without having to go through radio, television or print media. It is cost-effective, efficient and virtually automated. All you need to do is maintain a good email list that is genuine and then segment that list.
Double Opt-In Email Or Single Opt-In Email List?
Lets talk about the two most popular methods to generate a list of email contacts. It is your contact list for email marketing that determines how effective your online marketing content will be.
- In a double opt-in email list, people sign up through your website directly and via an email confirmation by giving their consent twice (once on your website and once via email).
- In a single opt-in email list, people sign up through your website – it includes no additional confirmation.
Why Is Double Opt-In Important?
With double opt-in one has to confirm their email address manually by accepting the link from their inbox. If a person is not genuinely interested in receiving further email from your company or website, they would not confirm the link. This is an added security to ensure that a person wants to be on the mailing list.
Think of it this way – what if someone had malicious intent to add hundreds of emails in at once? Single opt-in would let these unscrupulous folks exploit this loophole and take revenge by bombarding the inboxes of the intended victim with porn, spam, or other unwanted material. This could force the victim to discard their email address and get a new one just to avoid getting overloaded with “junk.” Double opt-in ensures that only those who confirm their intent a second time directly from their inbox get added to the list so we nullify this eventuality of being bombarded with false mail marketing.
For the website using double opt-in the advantage is that they get an email list that is highly effective with people who really want to be on that list. This is a much more useful list than one generated through single-opt in email marketing techniques.
Why is email marketing important to my online marketing strategy?
Simply put, email marketing provides a better return on investment than any other form of online marketing. Studies show that businesses and organizations earn more money for every dollar spent on email marketing than those same businesses and organizations earn from any other single form of online marketing. A 38:1 ratio!
Why does emails marketing provide a better return?
- More personal than other forms of online marketing such as social media
- More targeted (especially if you use a double-opt-in list)
- More suitable to business and doing business
- More private
